guardians of the highest order
by the moonlight mona lisa
Summary: Luna Ending AU; In which Sigma, Quark, Luna and Phi escape but find that the world isn't exactly the same and do not want to leave Quark alone. Soon, they find that raising a young boy is harder than they thought and they're not quite sure how Tenmyouji did it.
1. Prologue

**This AU is a little complicated. For one, Luna is human, and the four remaining in her ending escape. When they escape, though, they are not on the moon, however, they **_**are **_**in the future. They will be in Quark's present, where the virus is ongoing and such. Anything else applies to the Luna Ending, so Clover, Alice, Tenmyouji, K and Dio are all dead, with Phi suspicious of Luna and Quark still unconscious. What happened to Luna? Well, I guess she was never injected by Clover, but she **_**was**_** at least knocked out by her, with Clover thinking she killed her. She ran to get the thing to revive her, and then Dio and yeah, normal from there.**

**As for the Sigma pairing, you can choose: Sigma/Luna or Sigma/Phi. I don't mind, I like both. Also, whichever one doesn't win will get a 100 themes drabble collection. I'd like to write both so… yeah. I love this fandom. I've played both, and I would love to write other fics for both games. **

…**Anyway, please cast a vote for the Sigma pairing if you want to. I hope you like this story, and I do not own the franchise.**

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_Prologue_

* * *

Now that they had enough BP, Sigma and Phi planned to leave the facility. However, something had felt… wrong. And it wasn't Luna, nor Sigma's choice to ally with her. They had forgotten about that, at least for the time being. Phi still had a level of distrust for Luna, wherever the girl had gone, and Sigma was a tad worried that Phi was beginning to not trust him. However, said woman looked at him with a raised brow.

"You think we should look for Quark, don't you?"

Phi's eyes were suddenly boring into him, and the two were left in a strange, but not so shocking stare down. Unable to do much else, let alone give a response, he nodded slowly.

"Where do you think he is?"

"I have no idea."

"Helpful," Phi said, sighing, "Well, we should start checking out all the rooms anyway. But we should be careful, because, well, you never know…"

Sigma did not make a sound. He still believed that Luna had not done it, but telling Phi his view on the matter would just lead to a fight, or an awkward silence or even more distrust. The two did not need any more trouble, so none of those options were ideal. He decided to agree with her plan to search the doors together, and said nothing about the matter of the murders and the orange-haired woman who had seemingly committed them.

The two walked side by side until they hit the magenta door, and then started walking single-file. There wasn't much to say, Sigma noted, so he kept his mouth shut. He knew that if he opened it he'd bring up things that they shouldn't talk about.

Somewhere along the line, they had ended up in the green door. There had been much wandering around, and silly, pregnant silences. They had not spoken of Luna since Phi had insinuated that Luna had killed everyone after the AB Game.

Then, she was mentioned again.

"Do you think Luna opened the treatment center?"

Sigma shook his head, "I don't see how she could of. She doesn't have access to the doors or locks or anything."

Phi shrugged. "Just a theory. After all, she'd know this place too well…"

They entered anyway, with Phi expecting to find the woman, and Sigma expecting to find Quark's empty shell. Eventually, after much looking and confusion, they found the boy in the pod. Sigma was surprised, and Phi seemed genuinely shocked as well. What was the most confusing was the missing bracelet.

They didn't have time to solve this mystery, though, and decided to get through the door as soon as possible. When they reached it, however, Sigma felt… awkward. Like they were still missing someone. In fact, they were.

Luna.

It must have been the billionth time Sigma had thought about her, but he was genuinely concerned. She was Luna, and he trusted her too much to let this slide.

"Wait."

"For what? Why should we wait? Let's get out of here already!"

He had no response. He looked at the boy in his arms and passed him to Phi. "Hold on. There's just… something I should do…"

"Sigma!"

Sigma didn't hear her call. He ran towards the green door, and entered the Botanic Garden, not exactly knowing why. It just… seemed right.

"Luna!"

She looked up, a look of slight surprise on her soft features.

"Sigma…" she looked down, unable to meet his gaze.

"Luna, come on! What are you waiting for?! Let's get out of here!"

"But I… I shouldn't… I'm not supposed to…"

"Not supposed to? It's not like you're a robot, Luna! You can get out of here! You're just…"

"Genetically enhanced?"

"Yeah."

"Aren't you frightened? I could have killed the others, you know…"

"No, you couldn't have," Sigma let out a sigh, "I don't believe that. I think there's a better explanation."

Luna blushed slightly, "And what would that be?"

"We can talk about that later! Let's get out of here!"

He didn't give her a chance to respond. He took her hand and pulled her through doors and hallways and the elevator. They were back in the warehouse on Floor A, with Phi waiting by the door. Sigma was surprised she had waited.

"You waited?"

"Well, _of course _I did. I'm not like that."

Phi's eyes landed on Luna. There was a cold silence and Luna looked to the ground out of awkwardness. Phi's gaze was a cold one, after all.

"Well, what do you say? Should we get out?"

They all nodded, except for Luna, who remained still and silent. Sigma ignored it. She would escape with them whether she wanted to or not. He pulled the lever and the announcement came on signaling that the door was open. He nodded at Phi and the two ran through the door, Quark included. Luna looked down but didn't have a chance to say she shouldn't leave or something along those lines because Sigma pulled her through the door before it closed.

It wouldn't matter. They'd figure out who killed who and what went on later. For now, they were escaping and that was all that mattered.

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**Please place your vote. I think whatever couple wins this will also get a thirty theme challenge or something because I want to write themed things for both of these pairings because I love them both so, so much!**

**Thanks for reading. Please review.**


	2. Chapter 1

**You know, you don't exactly make this any easier, guys. Haha, but I suppose any amount of reviews is good, especially in this desolate, little fandom. Sigh, oh well… I'll do this chapter and if anybody changes their mind, or if anybody new reads and decides to vote, yay! If not, I'll take in the consideration from the small amount of reviews and go from there. **

**Also, Quark is sad in this chapter… Blehhh, poor Quark, and it's kind of difficult to judge his reaction to this kind of situation, but I'm gonna say he'd probably cry if his grandpa died… right?**

**Oh! And remember that they're on Earth, not the moon and Rhizome-9, okay? **

**I don't own Zero Escape.**

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_Chapter One_

* * *

The outside world was very, very strange. At first, they had went through theories of how they could have gotten to the moon or some other strange object in space, but Sigma started to realize he was carrying most of that whole conversation.

The tension was very thick. So thick, in fact, that he could slice it with a knife, but he might still have trouble cutting it.

However, as the silence continued, Quark began to stir. Luna was the first to notice, and pointed to Sigma's shoulders, where the boy currently rested. After she pointed it out, they stopped and waited for the young boy to fully awaken.

When his eyes blinked open, sighs of relief were heaved out from the three adults. Quark had been unconscious, they knew that, as Luna had been the one to drug him and take his bracelet off (or so she had begun to explained, but that conversation ended when they got outside and wondered where the hell they were), but it was certainly a relief to see Quark awake and alive.

Quark yawned, and stared at the three in front of him, and eventually looked around, expecting to find cold, shiny metal, and not some strange wasteland. His eyes widened.

"Guys… where are we?"

"Where should we start?" Sigma wondered aloud.

"How about we start at we escaped?" Phi suggested, rolling her eyes. Luna giggled slightly.

"We… escaped? You mean you guys got out?!" He was bouncing, and the others were nodding.

Quark was suddenly very excited, and then… not so much. "Where's everyone else? …Where's grandpa?"

_Ouch_. That was what they had been dreading. Such a horrible question with such a horrible answer, and Sigma almost winced at the mention of the others. Luna frowned and looked away, and Phi simply looked to the side. Even Phi didn't want to mention what happened to the boy.

"What aren't you telling me? Did they not have nine BP or somethin'?"

"It's… a little more complicated than that, Quark," Phi started, "We're still not entirely sure what happened…"

Sigma saw her glance at Luna, quickly looking away just as fast as she had glanced at her… Jeez, this was starting to get more awkward by the hour. Despite that, he was more concerned with Quark and the explanation.

Luna sighed gently and bent down to Quark's level, "You see, Quark… The others are…" Luna paused, suddenly unable to finish.

"Dead," Sigma stated quietly.

Quark blinked, and stared blankly at Sigma.

"You were out for a long time, and while we were looking for you, they were all…"

Phi looked at Quark, "Murdered."

"Does that mean grandpa is…?"

"I'm sorry, Quark," Luna responded, trying to blink away some tears of her own. That was when Sigma noted that Quark had started to cry, as well – though that was entirely understandable – and this situation was getting way too uncomfortable, for all of them, though more specifically Phi and himself.

They simply let Quark cry, and they each tried to comfort him, but ultimately decided that was best left to Luna, the most caring figure in this group. She was definitely soothing, as Quark eventually started to calm down.

"It'll be okay, Quark," Luna promised, "After all, you… you have us now."

Phi blinked and Sigma looked confused, and they nodded Luna over.

"Are we really going to take care of him?"

"Well, we can't just… just leave him alone! That would be cruel, and it's not right… He doesn't have anyone else."

"I guess that settles it," Sigma said, looking at Quark, "We're sticking together, then."

Quark smiled, and it was a nice change of pace from the large amount of tears he had shed before. It was nice to know that he was still… happy.

"Well, first thing's first… _Where _are we?"

Quark jumped up, "Oh, Mr. Sigma! I can answer that one! We're not _too _far from where I used to live with grandpa!"

"Wait…Do you mean this is… _Earth_?" Phi asked, "Because I don't remember it looking like some kind of deserted wasteland.

"Sorry to say, but yeah, this is Earth. This is what it looked like for me… after the Radical-6 outbreak."

Luna cringed, "This is horrible." Sigma and Phi had nothing to add, because she had stolen the words right out of their mouths. Slowly, they turned towards each other and back to Quark.

There was a lot of time to panic and scream and wonder why Earth was like this, and how they had gone into the future without aging, but Phi had stolen the words this time.

"Look, we can figure this out later. We should probably get some shelter, or head towards town."

"Then you should all just follow me!" Quark stated, jumping ahead.

"We could always find my car…" Sigma suggested.

Quark laughed, "Sorry, Mr. Sigma, but there… there aren't any more cars around… or any transportation, for that matter. It made the disease spread faster."

Sigma looked downtrodden, "That's… okay… It was junk, anyway."

Quark grew serious, "And since you guys aren't used to it, I should warn you: As we get closer to town, there'll be tons more bodies."

"Bodies…? As in… corpses?"

"Yeah, that's right, Ms. Luna…"

It was going to be a long walk, Quark had stated, but it wouldn't be the farthest he had ever walked, but it would probably be a stretch for them who hadn't lived on such a planet. And, just as he foretold, as they started to see the makings of a town, there was a… a _stench_.

And it was _putrid_.

Quark, though used to the smell, crinkled his nose a little bit, "Yeah, smells like we're comin' close to a body pile or something… Town's not too far."

Panting, Sigma had to ask: "Body pile?"

"Well, they… kinda have to put the bodies somewhere so the rest of the world doesn't get infected… But even that doesn't help too much."

Quark had directed them to a place where they could stay for the oncoming days until he could finish explaining everything that had happened in their absence on the planet. It wasn't much, but it was sentimental.

"It would be easier for grandpa to explain it, since he lived longer…"

Luna moved closer to the young boy, and he eventually drifted off into a deep sleep while leaning on her. The orange-haired woman fell asleep as well, and Sigma could feel his eyelids drooping.

"What a day," he commented.

"You can say that again."

"I think… we should figure out who killed everyone," Sigma said with an awkward sigh.

"Don't you already have it figured out?"

"Well… yeah, but only if we eliminate Luna as a possible suspect."

Sigma started to explain, but Phi cut him off with a yawn, "There's plenty of time for this in the morning, Sigma."

"Yeah, but –"

"Just shut the fuck up and go to bed."

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…**And on that note, that is the end of chapter one! Sorry it's slow, but I wanted to get this in, and the next chapter will be murders and the like, as well as Quark's explaining of the Earth and then maybe some town exploring? Probably. Oh, and some more fluff because there wasn't enough of that in here.**

**AND I STILL CAN'T DECIDE WHICH PAIRING. I LOVE THEM BOTH SO MUCH, OKAY. IT'S RIDICULOUS. Send help.**

**Please review! (Or favorite, but I would prefer the feedback, if you have any.)**


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